McGraw-Hill Education CTB Completes 2014 Cycle of the OECD Test for Schools, Providing Insights on the Performance of U.S. Schools against PISA Benchmarks
New benchmarking tool based on influential PISA assessment allows schools to gauge their students' performance against international college and workforce readiness standards

MONTEREY, Calif., July 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- McGraw-Hill Education CTB, one of the nation's leading educational assessment partners and the accredited administrator in the United States of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's new OECD Test for Schools, today announced the successful completion of the first cycle of the public availability of the benchmarking tool. The results of the 2014 OECD Test for Schools provide schools with unique insights into student performance in reading, science and mathematics relative to international results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), and schools will receive their school reports later this month.

By allowing schools and districts to gauge students' performance relative to students from some of the world's highest performing education systems, the 2014 OECD Test for Schools allows schools and educators to more effectively shape local policy and learning outcome targets. Schools that participated in the 2014 cycle of the OECD Test for Schools will be provided with extensive reports detailing their performance compared to international PISA results for students from nations and economies around the globe. A unique and appealing element of the test is that only a representative sample of students is required to take the assessment in participating schools.

"As the only benchmark assessment that allows schools to measure their performance against international PISA results, the OECD Test for Schools provides a critically important tool in improving college and career readiness nationwide," said Ellen Haley, president of McGraw-Hill Education CTB. "We are incredibly proud to be responsible for administering the OECD Test for Schools in the United States, and we look forward to continuing to work with the OECD to shape and monitor students' preparedness for our globally competitive society."

PISA, a global study conducted every three years by the OECD that examines students' skills and knowledge in the critical subject areas of mathematics, science and reading, has become the most widely respected international measure of students' preparedness for college and workforce success in the world. The United States has participated in PISA since its first administration in 2000. Although the OECD Test for Schools is based on the same assessment frameworks as the main PISA assessment, the findings provided by the two assessments are different. While the PISA assessment is intended to provide aggregate national and select sub-national results for comparisons, the OECD Test for Schools is designed to allow individual schools to benchmark their performance and to use the results to inform policy and school improvements.

"This assessment finally offers individual districts and schools what we have all been looking for: the chance to benchmark ourselves on the sophisticated skills we all want our students to have before they graduate, and to do so on an instrument that is at the cutting edge of assessment internationally," said Jack Bierwirth, superintendent of Herricks Public Schools in New York. "The real power of this assessment will come as educators use it as a framework for intense collegial discussion within and across districts, across states and even across countries on how to implement the best possible education for all students."

The completion of this year's testing cycle follows CTB's accreditation in the United States by the OECD as the administrator of the assessment in 2013, and the completion of a successful pilot study in 2012. As the administrator of the test in the United States, CTB provides schools with all testing services, including test administration and reporting.

CTB is currently accepting registrations from U.S. schools and districts who wish to participate in the 2014-2015 OECD Test for Schools. For more information on how to enroll, please visit CTB.com/OECDtestforschools.

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